N7 Rejects: 002 – Fragments
by N7Dante
Summary: Flashbacks and shenanigans abound! Some of Scott and Rebecca's history is revealed during a C-Sec interrogation over their drunken actions in the Citadel. N7 trainees in experimental fast-track programs rarely get shore-leave, seriously, some assassins just have the worst timing ever.
1. Foreword and notes

**Foreword and notes**

 *** Disclaimer type thing**

Although the original characters and scenarios belong to me, this is a fanfic based in the universe of the game series 'Mass Effect', which is most certainly owned by the brilliant developers at Bioware and, to some extent, those publishing guys at Electronic Arts.

 *** Original concept**

I'm one of those that couldn't help coming up with little back-stories and personalities when playing as the various characters in the multiplayer part of Mass Effect 3. This led to me writing a little 'pilot' fanfic based on their adventures that often parodied well-known tropes and situations my friends and I came across while playing.  
I ended up writing and re-writing stories to go around it, developing the characters further, and trying to come up with something ME fans would enjoy reading.

 *** Notes for this story**

002: The events of this story occur a little over two weeks after the first story.

As in the previous story, three asterisks ( *** ) indicate the passage of time. If the scene location changes as well, it'll be stated shortly afterwards in some method or another.  
Three hash symbols ( ### ) indicate the start or end of a flashback, personally I wanted to use tildes, but they keep getting removed from chapters when trying to use them.

Similar to some TV shows, this particular story will frequently bounce back and forth to different points in the characters' lives. Hopefully this method of storytelling won't confuse any readers but I'll try to make each time-jump as clear as possible anyway.

The asari councillor makes a bit of an appearance in this one, but I haven't named her (Tevos or Irissa) since a player choice in the first game affects which of the two is present during this time. I make little things like this a bit vague (such as identifying comments about Shepard) so that these stories 'fit' with the choices and play-throughs of the readers.

I'm all for having any wording or spelling mistakes pointed out to me in reviews etc, but I'll be purposely putting some subtle and not-so-subtle ones into drunken speech so don't worry about those.

Enjoy!

 *** Special thanks**

Ominous Shadow Erkling – For reviewing my first story and giving me support and suggestions.

N7Kate – my partner in and out of game, who basically introduced me to Mass Effect in the first place and gave me helpful feedback on the original concept story.

Edge – local comrade who has joined us in many online battles against the reapers, getting me hyped to write more.

Nick and Mack – for getting us through platinum difficultly and for being there when the galaxy needed us the most.


	2. Chapter 1 – Social dancing

**Chapter 1 – Social dancing**

Commander Martin Dodson had commissioned the construction of a new training complex on Eden Prime, the second planet of the Utopia System in the Exodus Cluster. Upon its recent completion, the eighteen N7 fast-track program trainees were split up into two groups and tasked with completing a day-long series of non-stop gruelling exercises. This was just to 'break the new facility in' before pitting them against further challenges.  
The initial multi-combat scenarios were so extensive that those that didn't end up in the medical-bay were granted a small amount of shore leave to recover before returning to standard training and missions.

Permitted to choose what to do with their own free-time, six trainees from the first group decided to use the nearest relay, pool their credits together, and rent out a suite on the Citadel. Once there, the plan was, as one particular member put it, 'to have a night out on the tiles'.

[Year: 2186]  
[Location: Markets, Upper Wards, Citadel, Widow System, Serpent Nebula]  
[Mission Brief: Shore leave]

The widely distinguished colossal deep-space station known as the Citadel not only housed over 13 million lifeforms, but was also home to various entertainment venues, shops and night clubs.

"Flux?" asked Connor McIntyre, "I didn't think anyone went there anymore."

"Exactly!" pointed out Scott Lawton with a huge grin across his face, "It'll be like we have the place to ourselves. Ya'll warmed up?"

The group of five stood in front of him all agreed, a couple of them cheering.

"Right then recruits," said Scott mimicking Commander Dodson's gruff voice, "the mission objective is to get sloshed! Do the Alliance proud."

***

[Three hours later]  
[Location: Flux, Citadel]

Rebecca Watkins was sat alone at a small table, watching three of the other N7 fast-track program trainees dancing to what seemed like a bizarre mix of techno and punk music. From the point of view of anyone else in the club, they looked like any other humans on the Citadel, enjoying the music along with a mix of other races. Only the most observant of patrons would notice the thin chains around their necks, a hint of the Alliance dog-tags hidden beneath their mundane clothes.

Although nothing special in a fashion sense, Rebecca was wearing her usual brown dungarees over an orange long sleeve t-shirt that she thought nicely complimented her copper hair and green eyes. She had even decided to paint on some orange fingernail polish, something she rarely did. Her efforts were in vain however, as the overall effect was lost due to the poor disco lighting within the nightclub known as Flux.

She stopped idly fidgeting with her favourite screwdriver and returned it to the lower right pocket of her dungarees upon noticing Takako Hibiki return from the bar.

Takako was the only other female among the group of eighteen trainees and her out-going nature easily won over Rebecca's shy disposition on the first day they met.

The black-haired Japanese girl, with deep brown coloured eyes that matched the brushstroke-like patterns on her white dress, sat down next to her friend and placed two glasses of transparent magenta-coloured liquid on the table; "More drink!"

Rebecca's expression of study changed to one of amusement; "I'm sure you're trying to get me drunk my lady."

Takako feinted shock; "I assure you my dear I would never do such a thing… yours is a double by the way."

Both girls giggled and then began to drink, Takako downing hers at a clearly faster pace than Rebecca could handle.

"How is it today?" asked Takako nodding towards the lower half of Rebecca's left arm.

Rebecca also looked down at her long t-shirt sleeve, already beginning to slur her words after just a few rounds of alcohol; "There's no pain and ish cleared up nicely. Wan to shee it?"

A couple of rapid nods from Takako signalled for the engineer to pull up her sleeve, revealing her dark pink burn scars all around from wrist to elbow.

"Owwww," stated Takako, taking another large gulp of her drink, "but it looks quiet cool actually. There are all these diamond shape patterns across it."

"Shu-seriously? Scott said the same but I think it looks like someone's shrink-wrapped it with strips of cling-film."

Takako began to grin; "You know, you've mentioned Scott, like, five times since we sat down here."

Rebecca's alcoholic fuzz cleared drastically; "We, well we were assigned together, so, so I'm around him a lot, it's natural."

Takako nudged her friend and winked; "I think you _like_ him."

Rebecca felt like a hot towel had been placed on her face and hoped that the club lighting was hiding the rapid reddening of her cheeks; "Wha-what? No, I mean, it'd complicate things too much. He doesn't see me like that anyway… Um, is it that obvious? Ahhh!"

"Yep," laughed Takako, "although you got your work cut-out since he's such a babe-magnet. Didn't imagine he'd be your type."

Rebecca shyly adjusted her glasses and tried to divert the conversation slightly; "How are things going with you and Connor? Aren't you worried when on assignment?"

The two girls looked over to the dance floor where Connor and two other N7 trainees were teaching a salarian how to successfully head-bang and air-guitar, much to the amusement of an asari who was enthusiastically clapping her hands.

"Things are going good," replied Takako with a smile, "we're a bit over-protective of each other, but also in sync enough to still work effectively on the field. I heard relationships in the Alliance could be tough, but I haven't found anyone else that I trust more than him… plus, you know, the sex is amazing."

Rebecca laughed while rolling her sleeve back down; "Well I'm glad it's working out for you guys."

Takako finished her drink and winked; "It'll work out for you one day too, even if it's not Scott. You are meccha kawaii!"  
Before Rebecca could say anything to the contrary, she received a quick kiss to her cheek that caused her blush to return.

The room filled with cheers as the music track shifted to a repeating drum beat followed by some synth.

"Ahh," whimpered Rebecca to herself, "for a second I thought they were cheering at us."

"I love this song!" exclaimed Takako quickly standing up, her eyes locking onto Connor who was beckoning her over with his hands, "Becky, let's dance."

"You really wah to see my drunken penguin impression?" frowned the engineer.

"Yes!"

"You go," smiled Rebecca holding up her half-finished drink glass, "I'll finish my drink and den join you."

"Haaaaaiiii!" called out Takako as she happily sauntered towards her fellow trainees on the dance floor.

Rebecca chuckled to herself and slowly sipped at her drink, noting with her digital watch that it took her just over three minutes to find the bottom of the glass. No one from the dance floor looked over to her during this time, that lack of pressure allowing her to slowly build up the confidence to join in with something that she wasn't overly comfortable with.

Just as she worked up the courage to stand up and start walking over, she could hear a voice calling her name over the din of the music.

"Becky-Bex-Bex-Beckington!" called Scott, clearly quite drunk.

Scott was walking down the staircase from the casino on the mezzanine. An asari clung to his left arm and a female human, that Rebecca recognized as one of the bar staff, held his right.

As the three approached, Rebecca was secretly pleased with herself that she didn't feel that pang of jealousy and upset that she always used to. She came to the conclusion that she was either finally moving on, or that she was drunk enough to just not care. The room continuing to move despite her being stood still hinted that the latter was certainly a factor.

"I just won big on the Quasar machines! Credits galore!" exclaimed Scott excitedly.

Rebecca could never help sharing Scott's emotions, she always absorbed them like a sponge without noticing, her smile widened and she gave a thumbs up; "Nice one!"

Scott turned his head to the girl on his right; "Hey babe, can you get everyone here a drink? They're on me."

The bar girl, happy that some of his winnings were going back to the club, squeezed his arm a little and flashed him a smile; "Sure thing, I'll get them right now."

The asari on Scott's left began to detach, her fingertips lingering on his smart white shirt for as long as possible before she had to pull away; "Thank you so much! I'll tell my friends."

"Hey, you were my lucky charm," winked Scott.

Heading off to the dance floor, she began to explain to the salarian and the other asari that free drinks were inbound.

"Having a good time?" asked Scott.

Rebecca swayed a little after nodding; "Yush! I'z a little drunk though."

"Think you can handle one more?" asked Scott, "I've just been told they have a new drink they're trying out here."

Rebecca wobbled again and adjusted her glasses; "I don't know, I don't wan ta throw up or fall over."

Scott patted her on the shoulder; "Aww come on, what's worst that could happen?"

Rebecca squinted hard at him; "You didge not just say that, you know you hat a history with that phrase."

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean," he replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

***


	3. Chapter 2 – First meetings

**Chapter 2 – First meetings**

[Five hours later]  
[Location: Interrogation room, C-Sec outpost, Presidium Commons, Citadel]

"Miss Watkins?" asked the turian with slanted 'Y'-shaped blue facial markings under each eye.

Rebecca's forehead was resting on the desk she was sat in front of, her eyes now tightly closed; "Shhhhhh, not so loud."

The turian replied by slamming his palm down on the table, causing Rebecca to sit up straight in shock for a second before relaxing and massaging her temple; "You're a bad turian, meanie, mean-head."

"As I said before," sighed the Citadel Security officer, "my name is Pablo, not 'meanie mean-head'. I need answers about what happened. You had enough cooling-off time in the cell."

"Which brought on the hangover," whined Rebecca, taking off her glasses for a moment to see if there were any smudges on the lenses, "I think it would have been better talking to me straight away, I'm really not used to this drinking malarkey."

"It would be in your best interest to focus," said Pablo, "you are under investigation. Now, how long have you known Mister Lawton?"

Rebecca seemed to sober up a little and raised an eyebrow; "Why you asking that?"

"Miss, I am very busy and have several other witnesses to get through in the next few hours, could you please just answer my questions rather than asking your own?"

Rebecca was quiet for a moment and stared at the clear table, her right hand idly fiddling with one of her dungaree braces.

He repeated the question; "How long have you known Mister Lawton?"

###

[Year: 2167]  
[Location: Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream]

The five-kilometre diameter Stanford Torus-type space station known as Arcturus wasn't just the headquarters of the Alliance Navy and parliament, it was a home to forty-thousand humans.

A ten-year-old Rebecca was curled up on a small pile of pillows between the long book shelves of a dark and otherwise empty library. A nearby lamp was the only light source as she compared the pages of two books on the same topic concerning omni-engineering. Other programming dissertations and technical manuals were also scattered around her private den.

Being born and raised on the military space-station due to her parents being transferred there, Rebecca had grown accustomed to many Alliance doctrines and technologies at an early age. Receiving advanced studies from her distinguished technician parents at home furthered the notion, shared many members of the Alliance, that she would be an excellent candidate for a naval position.

Despite her age, she had been given a key-card to enter the library at any time, a privilege she often took advantage of to further her own learning while her parents were busy.  
The hours had already flown by and if the blurry digital read-out on the far wall was to be believed, it was getting near her bedtime.  
After squinting a few times, Rebecca twirled a finger around one of her two long braided-pigtails and started to ponder if she needed to wear glasses like her mother. She certainly didn't like the thought of sight surgery and whispered a wish, hoping that her vision would never deteriorate.  
The books called to her again, but two pages later, the girl found herself struggling to keep her heavy eyelids open.

The beeping sound of the door-lock awoke the girl from what could have been either a thirty second or thirty minute mini-nap.  
She woozily stood up and then flinched as a loud crashing sound was heard. No one else ever came to this library after hours, not even the record-keeper.  
Deciding to investigate the disturbance to her ordinarily silent dwelling, the ten-year-old crept along the stacks and then crouched, peering around the corner of a section that contained volumes on mass effect fields used in space craft production.

The two standing shadows slowly took shape, it was a staggering middle-aged man and a young boy around her own age.  
Although she couldn't quite understand the harsh words being yelled between the two, she quickly realised who they were.

The boy was one of the other few children housed on the space station. Rebecca remembered the time she had told her parents how she had once seen the boy skilfully stealing a credit chit from an officer.  
She found out that he was the son of a disgraced officer who had become nothing but an obnoxious drunk since his wife's death. Despite being discharged from service, he and his son were still housed on Arcturus due to unknown circumstances. That situation wouldn't last long however, if the rumours of a petition to expel them were true.  
Upon hearing about the mother's death, Rebecca stated that she wanted to befriend the boy and cheer him up, but she was swiftly forbidden to associate with him in any way. For some reason she didn't understand, the boy was "dangerous" to her future and so she complied without question.

The yelling was now one-sided from the boy but it was suddenly silenced by a sucker punch to the lad's stomach. The child instantly dropped into a foetal position, unable to speak further.  
Rebecca gasped from her hiding place, quickly covering her mouth with her hands. She could never imagine either of her own parents even lightly striking her, so the concept that this father could forcefully punch his own child was unbelievable.

The man seemed to pace in a small circle for a moment, muttering to himself before swiping his key-card to open the door. Just as he left the room, he flung the card on the floor next to his curled-up son with an added curse word.

The silence returned for a moment, broken only by the strained breaths of the boy who was so winded that he couldn't even cry from the pain.

Rebecca instinctively started to move forward but then remembered her mother's words. This boy was 'dangerous' and not to be interacted with.  
While she still couldn't understand why this was, her parents had never been wrong and always knew what was best.  
Moving her legs into a different position to fight off the numbness that was beginning to spread, she quietly stayed hidden and watched over him.  
In the minutes that passed, the boy reclaimed his normal breathing pattern and allowed himself to sob.

Rebecca could feel the tears welling up in her own eyes but swallowed hard to not make a sound, her hands now back over her mouth.  
For a second, she swore she heard him say 'I want to disappear.'

Another minute passed before the boy made a startling growling sound and began to stand up.  
He suddenly dashed at the closed door and punched it, following up with a kick and another punch before a flurry of shoulder barges and fist pounding.

The banging sounds were almost drowned-out by the cries of the infuriated lad; "I hate you dad! I hate you! I'm not gonna be like you! I'm gonna be better than you!"

There was a series of tearful breaths as he then turned around and glanced to the floor, causing Rebecca to flinch in fear of being spotted.

The boy picked up the key-card and stared at it for a moment, a tear-stained determined look on his face; "So much better…"

His expression would be one that she would never forget, it stirred something mysterious inside her as if she shared his resolve. Her future as a technician had always been set-out for her, but now she wanted something more, to prove that she could surpass all expectations.

Rebecca found herself soundlessly mouthing out his name; 'Scott Lawton.'

###

Rebecca looked up to the turian and then back down to the table, realising that she couldn't comfortably tweak the truth while making eye contact.

She decided to move to the subsequent truthful answer; "For roughly eleven years, we both enlisted in the Systems Alliance navy at the same time. Various training exercises and tests had us teamed up for most assignments. Later…"

A possible way out of the current situation formed in Rebecca's still fuzzy mind; "Hey, wait, you can talk to our-"

Pablo cut her off, knowing exactly what she was going to say; "Yes, we've already spoken with your superior. You both have a rather… colourful record for destruction. It has been agreed that you will remain in custody until our investigation is complete."

Out of fear of making things worse, the female human kept quiet after hearing the turian's less than impressed tone.

###

[Year: 2175]  
[Location: Enlistment Hall 2, Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream]

The initial introductions for the new navy recruits were over and they were free to go about their own business before the first lectures and exercises began.

The young man across the hall that Rebecca couldn't stop glancing at during the lengthy speeches had now made eye-contact and was directly heading over towards her.

She had instantly recognised him, despite the little blond goatee beard and years maturing him. She had never forgotten his name, the boy who unknowingly spurred her on to do her best in everything, the young man she could only ever admire from afar.

A quick browse around confirmed that he was indeed heading her way. She couldn't figure out why he was singling her out, especially since he had been seen flirting with girls much prettier than her just before the speeches. It was clear that he had grown up to be quiet the Casanova.

Now he was standing directly in front of her, she glanced up to him for a second to show that she wasn't ignoring him, but her eye contact drifted to his chest, then his neck… anywhere but those captivating blue eyes of his.

"Hello there fellow guide," said the twenty-year-old Scott, "Becky Watkins, right?"

"Y-yes," stuttered Rebecca.

"Did I hear right that you also got asked to be a guide for today because you were raised here too?" asked Scott sounding quite surprised.

Rebecca's shyness was already in overdrive, she couldn't even confirm the question with a single word. The best she could do, as her eyes lowered to the training room floor, was to let out a half-squeak-half-hum sound.

"There can't be much age difference between us… I know the place is pretty big, but I'm surprised I never bumped into you," frowned Scott, scratching his head as if trying to remember.

This part of the conversation needed an actual worded response but she wasn't about to tell him the full and hurtful answer on the topic.

Ignoring her now rapidly beating heart, she nervously half-laughed; "I was pretty much holed up in my room studying every day of my life."

Scott chuckled more convincingly; "The guys were just telling me that you had some super-brain parents, guess they had you swatting up day and night, huh?"

"Yeah, swatting away," said Rebecca unable to follow up with anything else.

Although looking quite calm on the outside, the girl was having a minor panic-attack inside her mind, wondering why she had suddenly lost all verbal communication skills. She hoped that Scott was going to continue the conversation to avoid any potential awkward silence.

In the need of a small comfort, her right hand automatically rose to reach for her long braided pigtails before she remembered that her hair had been cut short just a day ago in preparation for joining the navy. All she could do was nervously press the middle of her glasses frame up against the arch of her nose, that'd kill a second or two.

"Well," smiled Scott lightly punching his left palm, "I'm gonna look out for you, us Arcturus tykes should stick together, right?"

A wave of relief and happiness washed over Rebecca, a true smile forming across her face; "Thank you, ah, um, yeah, I'll look out for you too."

Some voices from behind were calling for Scott and the moment ended like the sun setting.

Scott's hand rested on her shoulder for a moment as he walked past her; "Gotta go, catch you later Bex."

"See-see you," replied Rebecca in a dream-like daze.

Her mind began to wander so much that she didn't even notice the officer that was now approaching and calling out her name.

###


	4. Chapter 3 – Tumbling

**Chapter 3 – Tumbling**

"Would you say Mister Lawton is a trust-worthy sort of person?" asked Pablo.

"There's no one else that I trust more than him," Rebecca replied, realising on the last word that she had heard a similar phrase from Takako just over five hours ago. She wondered why she couldn't have just said 'yes'.

"So not the kind of person that would, say, murder a key figure of the council then?"

Rebecca looked up at the C-Sec officer now, her face in alarm; "I told the others before, that was a misunderstanding!"

"Yes, yes," nodded Pablo, not entirely convinced, "wrong place wrong time, right?"

"He was trying to save her if anything," added the female human, "it was the assassin that was causing all the trouble."

"Ah yes, the _'assassin'_ ," said Pablo waggling two fingers on each hand in the air during the last word.

Rebecca frowned and pointed at him; "Don't you be giving me the air-quotes Mister, I know what I'm talking about."

Pablo folded his arms; "Let's start from the beginning then, what happened after you left Flux?"

Rebecca's pointing finger slowly lowered during a pause before it pressed against her other index finger close to her chest; "I can't remember."

The turian canted his head marginally and spoke in slightly smug tone; "You can't remember?"

"We tried that new gargle-blaster-whatever drink," said Rebecca ashamed, "I think it broke my brain."

Pablo pressed one hand against his forehead as if he was developing his own headache; "Do you at least recall how you ended up at the Citadel Tower?"

"Um, Scott heard that there were fish in the presidium lakes and wanted to try and catch some."

Pablo slumped on the spot out of disbelief; "Who keeps spreading that idiotic rumour? Am I going to have to make signs?"

"I told him there weren't any, but he wouldn't listen. Urrrrhhh, then what happened?"

The human pulled a strange face as she tried to recollect her memories of the night, her forehead and eyebrows scowling and her lips pursing.

###

[Two and a half hours earlier]  
[Location: Outside the Citadel Tower, Citadel]

A small burst of energy cracked through the air, shot from a gun that neither of the N7 trainee's could recognize. The reason for this was more due to how inebriated they were rather than how skilled they were in identifying weaponry.

"He's scaring the fish away," hissed a still rather drunk Scott.

Another laser blast scorched the tree that was planted in the large container which Scott was crouched behind.

"And," he added, "are all drells assassins, or just the ones we hear about?"

Rebecca waved to Scott from a couple of metres away behind her own plant container; "This reminds me of the time we saved Mannering."

Scott cast his mind back then shook his head; "That wasn't a drell, that was just some crazy guy."

"No, no," Rebecca said shaping her arms into a cross, "I mean dish is second time we've stopped as-assassination."

"As-a-sass?" questioned Scott amused at her slurred words.

"Except we had armour and weapons that time," she recalled thoughtfully.

The reddish green-skinned drell in a dark red leather coat calmly but cautiously walked between other large planters.  
His voice was naturally raspy, but seemed exceptionally composed as he spoke out to the two; "I must congratulate you both, you are highly skilled."

Rebecca quickly put a hand to her mouth to stop a loud laugh then half-whispered to Scott; "He thinks we know what we're doing."

The drell continued; "Recognising me and pushing the asari councillor into the lakes to allow her to escape was a prudent move…"

This time Scott had to stop himself from laughing as he whispered; "Total fluke, I was just trying to cop a feel."

"You're an ass," jeered Rebecca.

The drell finished his sentence, unable to hear the mumbles from his prey; "I assure you, I will find her in time. As for you two, you've seen my face and must also die."

Scott looked over to his team mate; "Is it racist if I tell him I think he looks like all the other cabbage heads? Seriously, in a line-up of drell and vegetables, I would _not_ be able to tell the difference."

"You're an ass," repeated Rebecca, giggling this time but then quickly clasping at her mouth.

The assassin began to advance upon hearing the mistake, his large black eyes locked-on the right side for any movement.

Suddenly something moved from behind the left planter, a human arm protruding from cover and raising a middle finger. Luckily for Scott, he only decided to 'flip him the bird' for a brief moment, as a laser blast arched over where his hand had been barely a second later.  
The drell began to move towards Scott's position.

With surprising speed, Scott scurried to the right and performed a forward roll across the floor allowing him to join Rebecca behind her container.  
Knowing this would have been heard, the two decided to try and escape.

'Stairs, stairs,' whispered Scott tapping her on the shoulder and shaking a pointing finger.

Rebecca glanced back to confirm where Scott was directing her to, and then regretted it as she turned to face forward again. The quick movement of her head caused her alcoholic fuzz to bring on a small dizzy spell, something she didn't need handicapping her when there were now several metres of wide-open space to cross.

"Stay low and follow me," ordered Rebecca, "… Now."

The two broke cover and ran half-crouched towards a large set of stairs that would provide them with at least some slightly improved protection and hopefully a way out of the current mess they were in.

The drell raised his pistol with a steady arm, and began to wonder if he had over-estimated them, these targets were too easy for his level of skill. He aimed in front of the female human for a leading-shot and pulled the trigger. Continuing at the pace they were going meant that the shot would connect with her head and end her life instantly.

A quick repeat would do the same for the following male.

Rebecca let out a small yelp as she accidently tripped over her own feet and instinctively rolled forward.  
The first shot sailed harmlessly overhead.

Scott, who was also suffering from a head-rush after moving too quickly, followed suit since he was using the girl as an artificial horizon of sorts. He swore several times and also tumbled forward as the second shot missed its mark.

The drell was now officially impressed; "It seems I under-estimated you. To be trained to such standards that you could sense my attack…"

He then watched as the two scrambled up the flight of stairs on all fours, giggling like drunken idiots and slowly realised the truth behind their 'skill'; "No one must know of this…"

With urgency now, as if his reputation was on the line, the killer dashed after them.

###

"Really?" asked Pablo.

"Yep," replied Rebecca with her elbows on the desk and her hands supporting her chin, "I remember the next bit really well because, even without an omni-tool, I hacked into a VI interface. You know, one of those that give you directions and information on stuff around the presidium."

"Are you confessing a crime here?" frowned the C-Sec officer.

Rebecca perked up and spoke excitedly; "No, although I've got something interesting to say on that in a bit. Anyway, I can reset it easy. I only got it to add extra words in it's phrasing to delay him and to give a message. It was for a distraction while Scott went to get help… Seriously."

###

"Hello _stupid assassin_ ," greeted a disembodied voice from a corridor not too far from the Citadel Tower.

"What the?!" exclaimed the drell, taking a step to the side and readying his gun. Just a second ago he was fully under the impression that he was completely alone while hunting down his two new targets.

The blue and purple transparent hologram of an asari suddenly flickered into existence above a pedestal nearby.  
Instantly recognized as Avina, the well-known Virtual Intelligence based at various points across the Citadel, he would have normally dismissed her sudden appearance as a proximity activation, but it's uncharacteristic greeting made him stop.

"Hmm," murmured the drell, "I thought you had been de-activated."

"My name is _super awesome_ Avina," announced the avatar, "and I have a _fantastic and fine_ message for you."

Rather intrigued with the apparent hack of the VI, the drell couldn't help but respond; "And what message is that?"

With odd voice fluctuations, Avina complied; " _Triple sweet_ Becky says you will never find her or her _courageous but unnamed_ acquaintance. They will be _most triumphant_ and you will be apprehended. Also, you _suck_."

The drell almost smiled in amusement; "I think I can deal with two drunken idiots."

Avina's image glitched rapidly a few times as a timed routine executed; "If you correctly answer Becky's _double-nice pop quiz_ I will reveal her _super-secret_ location to you."

The drell began to walk away up the corridor; "I am not a fool, I know you're just wasting my time."

Avina attempted one last distraction upon having her quiz rejected; "Would you like me to _dance the lovely dance_?"

"No," replied the assassin, already a few metres away now.

"Aww," sighed Avina with disappointment.

A distance away, in the opposite direction, stood the large monument statue of a krogan warrior in the lake. Originally built to commemorate the krogan contribution in the war against the rachni, it was now being used as Rebecca's hiding place.

The female human hugged onto the back of the statue, peering her head around to watch as the drell left the area.

"Awww," sighed Rebecca with just as much disappointment.

###

"So no one got to see the dance," sulked Rebecca in the interview room, "and it didn't distract him fa long, but in the end it stalled him for just the right amount of time. Some serious cause 'n' effect timing stuff right there."

Pablo never imagined having to deal with such bizarre stories when he first signed up for C-Sec; "So then what happened?"

Rebecca's lips curled into a large smile; "You already know. Scott couldn't stop telling you when you guys first arrived on the scene. Remember?"

"And you seriously expect me to believe it? I want to hear exactly what happened from your side."

"The structure damage and the two other testimonies will confirm it as well, but okay… this is what happened..."

***


	5. Chapter 4 – Gone fishing

**Chapter 4 – Gone fishing**

[Forty-five minutes later]

With Rebecca's interrogation complete, she was confined to sharing a holding cell with a large elcor while her 'partner in crime' was escorted into the interrogation room.

"Please tell me you got it on security camera!" exclaimed Scott, stood next to the table with a wide smile on his face.

Pablo realised he was beginning to develop a true headache from the human's overexcited personality; "We are still looking into what footage we can recover, but many monitoring systems were purposely destroyed or sabotaged, this is why we need to hear your story. Now please, Mister Lawton, will you take a seat?"

Scott hopped onto the chair next to the table and then looked around the bare room; "Am I going to get a medal or something? I was pretty amazing."

"You're under investigation," stated the turian.

"For being amazing?" asked Scott, slightly puzzled.

"For the abduction or murder of the asari councillor," replied the turian plainly.

There was a pause from the male human as he tried to recall recent events; "Oh THAT."

"So you admit you kidnapped or killed her?"

"No, no, it didn't go down like that."

"Tell me."

###

The six N7 trainees stumbled out of the lift that took them away from Flux, loudly joking and laughing with each other as they walked through the corridors of the Citadel.

"I feel fuzzy, ah 'posed to feel fuzzy?" asked a very drunk Rebecca.

Takako linked arms with her wobbling friend; "Hehe, don't worry, you're just not used to it. That said, I'm a bit tingly too, that was some crazy drink."

"Scott is a bad man for suggesting it, bad, bad, bad," mumbled Rebecca.

A few feet in front, the conversation from the four others grew louder and attracted their attention.

Takako spoke softly so the others wouldn't hear; "Sounds like Scott's going to be off on his own mission, you should, you know, keep an eye on him."

"I know what I'd like on him," started Rebecca before whispering the rest of her sentence into Takako's ear.

The Japanese girl was surprised at what she heard and nudged into her with a grin; "Becky! You minx, you're supposed to be the innocent one."

Scott held his arms up and the group came to a stop, the conversation he was having with the other guys escalating quickly; "No, seriously, there's fish in the presidium, I over-heard these two krogan talking about it."

"No way you drunken bum," disagreed Connor while the other two men laughed, "those lakes are empty."

"I'll show you, I'm gonna go and catch some," claimed Scott, "who's with me?"

"Arrrmmm with yoo!" loudly proclaimed Rebecca holding her free arm up, much to Takako's amusement.

"The Bexmeister is on board!" announced Scott, snapping his fingers, "Who else?"

Takako subtly squeezed Rebecca's linked arm with her own and then forced a convincing yawn; "Unlike you two, some of us actually have to be conscious tomorrow. I need some decent sleep before we all have to go back."

"Conn?" asked Scott.

Connor shrugged his shoulders; "As much as I'd like to go hunting for non-existence aquatic life, I'm going to go join my lady in bed. No offense."

As Scott turned to Peter and Abdul, the two other trainees, he was unaware of Takako signalling them with her eyes and a nod of her head.

Peter caught on quickly; "Sorry Scott, we need to crash too, we're doing some early shopping before the ride back."

"Yeah, yeah," agreed Abdul, playing along, "I'm after me some of those model ships for my little brother."

Scott tried one last attempt; "Sleep is for the weeeaaaakkkkk."

Takako smirked; "I'll be sure to laugh and remind you of that when you fall on your face during tomorrow's training."

"We're heading back to the suite," said Conner walking over and taking Takako's hand as she released Rebecca.

"We'll see you after," said Peter.

"Aye," replied Scott as the four started to walk away, "I'll catch a fish for each of you. You'll see. Becky's gonna be my witness."

"Sure-sure," laughed Abdul as they waved before turning a corner and going out of sight.

"Right," said Scott turning to Rebecca, "to adventure!"

"Adventure!" she replied with a chuckle.

For the next few minutes Scott babbled general nonsense as the two walked through the Citadel.

Normally Rebecca would have been very attentive, but her current drunk state had her considering if she should break the resolve she had made just over two weeks ago and use the temporary confidence boost to ask him questions she would otherwise never dare to pose.  
Her mind wandered from questions to kisses and then a little further before she noticed the silence.

"It's well weird," concluded Scott, still walking ahead just a little.

"Huh?" blinked Rebecca.

"How quiet and empty it is. I'm used to seeing tons of people around here."

"Well, fake night time is due soon, maybe everyone's gone to bed," guessed Rebecca, referring to the presidiums artificial night cycle. The lights around the park-like complex had slightly dimmed during their walk and the holographic 'sky' seemed to darken a shade.

Scott looked back to her while still walking; "That lasts like, six hours right? We better hurry or it'll be harder to catch the fish."

"You know, I don't think there are a-"

Rebecca was cut off as she witnessed Scott turn back around and crash into a lone salarian.

The two yelped and rubbed their heads.

"Ahh, sorry mate, didn't see you there," apologised Scott.

The salarian suddenly seemed panicked upon focusing on both of the humans and ran away without a word.

"Well that was…" started Scott.

"Suspicious," finished Rebecca.

"No, hilarious. Did you see how he ran? He was all like whaaarrrlllaaala," laughed Scott while wriggling his legs and arms around as he continued walking, "hey, look, fish territory."

"There is no fishies," commented Rebecca.

Scott began to stride towards his randomly selected lake front; "Poppycosh! The moment of truth is nigh."

The girl couldn't help smiling at his mis-worded synonym for 'nonsense'; "What is poppycosh?"

"Cockypop is the language of your people. I will hear no more of it and we shall dine on little swimmer-ma-bobs."

Rebecca began to laugh out loud, unsure how much was drunken-speak and how much was just him playing it up.

Upon approaching the lake, the two noticed a figure leaving from the main Citadel tower, walk for a little while and then stand in front of the very low wall that Scott had been journeying to.

"Isn't that the asari councillor?" asked Rebecca.

"I think so," replied Scott, "not as hot as the consort, but still…"

Rebecca lightly punched Scott's shoulder as they began to home in on her position; "Wonder what she's doing out here alone?"

"Maybe she's fishing too, let's ask her," beamed Scott already coming up with plans to attempt to woo her.

###

"And you ended up pushing the councillor into the lake," stated Pablo, linking Scott's bad storytelling with information gained from Rebecca's interview.

"That's right," nodded Scott, "don't quite recall how it happened, but I remember Becky yelling something and crashing into me, then I turned and saw a drell holding a gun. I did what any other council-serving man would do, got the target to safety and tried to stop the threat. No need to thank me."

"So you're saying she's unharmed, alive and free then?"

"It's not like she had lost consciousness when hitting the water or owt. I heard her yelling at me while I was getting shot at," shrugged Scott, "Becky and me then escaped to a staircase and I got to peek over the edge to have a looky, I'm guessing she just paddled off to safety."

"Strange, she has still yet to turn up," pushed Pablo, "plus an anonymous witness said that you actually killed the councillor with a gun."

"That's trash, I didn't…" Scott began before considering an idea, "Wait, this anonymous witness didn't happen to sound like a salarian by any chance?"

The C-Sec officer kept straight-faced, but was now also considering other possibilities; "What makes you ask?"

"I knew there was something about that guy," murmured the human before raising his voice, "the one I bumped into just before seeing the councillor. I bet he was in on it with the assassin! Saw it went south and so tried to pin the blame on me, bet he didn't expect we'd survive to call BS on his story."

Scott was now pressing a fist against his own forehead as if trying to piece something together; "Becky said something… while she was hacking the VI to run interference. She was mumbling with a screwdriver in her mouth so I got her to repeat it… she said that it looked like someone had already tampered with it. Yeah, someone had already been messing, even left a little interface pad under the panel."

Pablo checked a datapad he had attached to his waist and compared notes from the other interviews and the C-Sec incident report. Rebecca's testimony went into great depth about what she discovered while hacking the VI and how it was made easy for her even without an omni-tool. Certain connections between stories seemed to match up. A new theory of an accomplice to the assassin came to mind, one who would hack the local security monitors and clear the area for the killer to do his work. That said, Scott and Rebecca could have collaborated on a story like this before capture and without proof the assassin even existed, the questions had to continue.

"So," said Pablo looking from his datapad and back to Scott, "while Miss Watkins was illegally hacking into the presidium's security, what were you doing?"

The human ran a hand through his hair; "Well, without weapons, I was on a serious mission to get help."

###

"Come here little keeper, come here, are you wearing a hi-vis vest? Lemme see," chuckled Scott, half crouched down and slowly chasing after the green bio-engineered insect-like creature.

The keeper naturally made no reaction and continued scuttling along on it's four legs until it reached a maintenance tunnel. It then disappeared and presumably went about it's business maintaining other areas of the Citadel like it, and many others of it's kind, always had.

"Aww, where'd it go? Wait, what was I doing? Oh crap, yeah."

Standing up straight and running around a corner, Scott came face to face with a large elcor merchant, nearly running straight into one of it's four tree trunk-like legs.

"Mild surprise," stated the elcor in the flat monotone tone that was widely associated with the species, "I was not expecting anyone to find my store this early after opening."

"Hello there," replied Scott with a smile, "I might be in luck here. New shop, huh?"

"Pleased greeting," began the elcor, "welcome to Prottii's personal protection plaza."

Scott grinned; "Like how you named the store Protii."

"With pride. It took me less than a minute to come up with the name. Genuine query. Is there something I can do for you this day?"

"Why yes Prottii, yes you can," nodded Scott glancing at the array of displayed weaponry at the back of the store, "I am part of the Alliance Navy and my partner and I are in desperate need of your form of personal protection. Seems there's an assassin running around trying to kill off council members."

The elcor looked unmoved as always but his words reflected his true feelings; "Shocked, but with great interest. That is terrible, thankfully I am sure you will find something to your liking."

"I believe I will," said Scott already scanning various pistols, shotguns and SMGs for something similar to his own normal load-out.

The human's eye was suddenly drawn to a large object at the back of the store; "Wait, what is that?"

The elcor slowly turned around to confirm what the human was looking at; "Matter-of-factly. A family heirloom that is no longer required. Barely used, perfect working condition, modified for standard gravity use."

Scott kept looking between the object and Prottii; "On behalf of the Alliance Navy, I need to ask you for a huge favour, only you can do this."

"With anticipation. Ask away."

Scott mimicked the elcor's style of sentence structure, despite his emotions already being on full display; "With barely contained excitement. This has to happen…"

***


	6. Chapter 5 – A bad influence

**Chapter 5 – A bad influence**

Back near the Citadel tower, Rebecca was now hidden behind one of the many planters again, still somewhat wet from falling into the water. She cursed herself for accidently nodding off to sleep while clung to the krogan statue.

Her thought process rapidly bounced to various places as she tried to control her breathing and shivering; 'Think I dreamt about killer vegetables. I wonder who hacked the security before me? Do guys like the wet-look? Do all asari have such big boobs? I can't compete with that. What if there's more than one assassin? Despite the time, surely someone else would have wandered around here. Someone close this area off? Will the soggy foot prints give my position away? Wonder how long they'll take to dry. I miss my omni-tool, I'm gonna get a back-up glove and sleeve combo and never take it off, well, except for bed and showers… Mine are nice and perky though, pert. I think he'd like them. Ugh. Why did I agree to try that drink?'

Her abstract babble suddenly stopped and dropped back into survival mode when she sensed a presence nearby. Dipping a hand in one of her dungaree pockets, she quietly pulled out and clutched a spanner tightly in her hands.

The drell's raspy voice calmly called out; "I doubt you expected that I'd double back."

Rebecca gritted her teeth and froze, sure that her location hadn't yet been discovered. She guessed that his call-out was simply to rattle her or to trick her into giving her position away.

The voice seemed closer now; "There aren't many hiding places here, I can make your death quick."

The human's heartbeat began to increase in pace and limited options began to rush to her mind. Stay? Flee? Do her penguin dance? Most of her scenarios ended with her getting shot dead. Even without her waterlogged dungarees now weighing her down, she heavily doubted any sort of escape at this point, it was just a matter of time.

Although silenced, Rebecca could hear light footsteps. The assassin would be on her position within twenty seconds, but much louder footsteps caused his to stop.

Across the way Rebecca gazed upon an unlikely but glorious sight and her mouth dropped open in disbelief.  
A large elcor had entered the area, it's broad shoulders serving as a stable platform for a set of mounted cannons, and riding along right on top was Scott, sporting an excited grin.

The 'living tank' spoke to the assassin with it's droning voice; "Badassfully. Eat this cabbage-head."

###

"I told him to say that," beamed Scott to the C-Sec officer, breaking up his story, "it was AMAZING!"

###

Rebecca had seconds to react as the heavy cannons charged up and her analytical mind kicked into full gear. From the angle and sheer size of the upcoming attack, it was likely that the drell would be instantly killed. There was a chance however that the nimble assassin could dodge the blast and so something had to be done. Her job as a distraction was not over.

Rebecca suddenly stood up and yelled the first thing that came to her as she threw her spanner towards the drell's head; "Poppycock!"

His attention diverted for a second, he turned on instinct, just in time to avoid the tool making contact with his head and to aim his gun towards the female human.  
Rebecca let her body go limp and allowed gravity to drop her body quickly to the floor.

The volley from the mounted cannons seared through the air, vaporising the drell instantly and causing large fiery scorch marks across the floor and walls.

There was silence for a few seconds as both humans looked over to the singed surfaces.

"That. Was. Amazing!" cried out Scott, patting the top of the elcor rapidly. He then waved at Rebecca; "Becky! Come over here and meet the Elcornator!"

Prottii turned slightly; "Confused. What is the Elcornator?"

Scott rubbed the elcor's back; "Your new badass name!"

Rebecca began to walk over towards them, a happily bemused look plastered across her face; "Scott… you are ridiculous."

"I know, right?" winked Scott.

"Freeze! Don't move!" called out a booming voice.

The three found themselves surrounded at all sides by eight C-Sec officers, consisting of humans and turians, who were training their omni-tools and guns on them.

"With great concern," began the elcor, "are we in trouble?"

Scott, still sat on top of the elcor, called out excitedly, despite their predicament; "Oh man, you guys are late! You saw all that right?! Right?!"

###

"And that's when you guys made me jump down to my knees and put my hands on my head," nodded Scott, clearly showing how relaxed and guilt-free he was feeling right now.

Pablo was about to ask another question when a metallic knocking sound at the door interrupted him. He turned and opened it, revealing a human wearing a large ear-piece on the other side.

"Officer Lang?" questioned the turian, curious if the interruption was related to the current case.

The human C-Sec officer glanced to Scott for a second and then whispered a few sentences to his colleague.

Pablo turned back to Scott; "You, stay there. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Scott looked around the small plain room, knowing the only exit out would soon be locked; "Yeah sure, I'll just take in the scenery."

The C-Sec officers left, the door sliding back across, causing a red light to flicker up on the nearby panel to declare the lock-in.

Scott stared at the red light quietly for a few moments.

###

[Year: 2167]  
[Location: Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream]

A twelve-year-old Scott stared at the red light on the panel next to the locked library door. He continued silently composing himself, trying his best to ignore the pain in his ribs where his father had punched him.

"I'm going to join the navy," said Scott quietly to himself, "I'm going to be an operative and surpass him, I'm going to be the best and he'll have to salute me."

Unknown to him, Rebecca was still listening from her hiding place, clutching the book she had been reading tightly against her chest, silently cheering for him.

Scott wiped the last of his tears with his left hand before swiping his father's key-card against the panel to open the door. As he walked through, it closed behind him and locked again.

The boy paused on the other side, glaring at the key-card before throwing it at the floor. He guessed that the 'misplacement' of the card would earn himself another beating, but right now it was all he could think of to get back at his father. Maybe the actual 'active' members of the Alliance would find it and scold his father for losing it.

Carefully walking down the corridors ahead, he avoided eye-contact with various officers as he made his way back to his room.

After entering his living space, Scott let out a relaxed breath when he discovered his father was passed-out on the couch.  
Although it was tempting to hurt the man in some way as he lay defenceless, Scott knew it was best to just quietly go to bed and forget about the day.  
After changing and getting under the covers, Scott glared at the blank ceiling, determined that tomorrow he'd set himself along the path for a better future.

The next morning, Scott had got out of bed early to leave the living quarters before his father awoke to a hangover.  
Opening the front door, the boy instantly spied his father's key-card on the floor as if someone had found it and placed it there.  
He looked down both ends of the corridor but didn't find sign of anyone.  
Picking it up, he decided it was probably best to place it next to his sleeping father to give him a hint that his boy had at least been back home last night. Avoiding another beating would be beneficial anyway.

Scott then walked down the corridor, ready to start asking questions and investigate what was needed to become a true member of the Alliance.

###

The red light turned green as Pablo returned to the small room.

There was a pause as they silently looked at each other before the turian waved an arm to the door; "You are free to go."

"For reals? No trolling?" asked Scott not wanting to get his hopes up.

"I am not sure what you just said, but yes," nodded the C-Sec officer.

Scott slowly stood up and canted his head; "So you believe me then?"

"The councillor just called in, she is safe and confirms the first part of your story, at least up until receiving a message to meet an informant near the lake and then your bumbling but fortunate interference."

"That's great," said the human as he walked towards the door, "I should thank her."

The turian shifted to temporally block the door; "I wouldn't recommend it, in fact, she expressly stated that she doesn't want to see you so don't go trying to visit either."

"Whhhaaa?"

"On the plus side for you, she says she won't press indecent assault charges against you."

Scott stood up straight and saluted; "I was very drunk sir, totally didn't mean to fondle her while saving her life."

"Or just before?"

"I tripped?" tried Scott, still slightly foggy over the exact details of what happened.

Pablo shook his head; "In any case, you'll also be paying for the damages caused to the area."

"Guess since we dusted the bad guy, you can't charge him right? Just notify Dodson and…"

The turian interrupted; "We have already contacted your superior. He said that due to you being on shore leave at the time, the payment for damages is your responsibility."

"Oh what?" slumped Scott, "Lame excuse."

The C-Sec officer folded his arms; "We will forward the full details to you by the end of the day, for now, the three of you can leave. We're going to be busy searching for this salarian and finding out who hired the assassin in the first place..."

"Ah, yeah, sorry. Good luck with that," said Scott with only a minor tinge of guilt for disintegrating the perpetrator.

Pablo grunted and then stepped to one side to allow the human to leave, canting his head when Scott didn't move; "Why are you staring at me?"

Scott finally asked a question that had been bugging him since his arrest; "Is your name really Pablo?"

Not a stranger to such a question, the turian simply replied; "Please get out of here."

***

Scott, Rebecca and their new elcor friend slowly walked away from the C-Sec offices.

"Upset," stated the elcor, "I can't believe they confiscated my cannons. Annoyed. I will be having stern words."

"You'll get them back soon," said Rebecca gently patting Prottii's side, "we'll help."

"Right," agreed Scott, slamming a fist into his open palm.

The human female yawned and rubbed one eye; "I can't believe where the time went. Not long til we have to report in. We're bound to get another scolding, punishment detail again."

"Before that, I have a plan," announced Scott raising his right index finger.

"Where now?" asked Rebecca as they approached Prottii's shop.

Scott turned around to face her, a grin spread across his face; "We're going back to Flux, the casino in particular, and we're going to win many-much gambles to instantly pay off our debt… a few drinks while we're there can't hurt either."

"You're a bad influence on me Scott Lawton."

"You wouldn't have it any other way," winked Scott.

###

[Year: 2175]  
[Location: Enlistment Hall 2, Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream]

"See-see you," replied Rebecca in a dream-like daze as Scott walked away towards a handful of other trainees.  
She had seen them around earlier, just before the initial introduction speeches, but had been unable to work up the confidence to talk to them herself.

"Ms Watkins."

She wondered how he made friends so easily. He seemed so handsome now, even with the goatee… that was probably one reason, that and his charming personality.

"Ms Watkins?"

He touched her shoulder and said 'catch you later'. That meant he wanted to talk to her again right? He'd probably 'have' to as they were going to be in the same regiment, but he said it like he 'wanted' to.

"Rebecca?"

Rebecca snapped out of her self-induced trance and squeaked, suddenly noticing the officer next to her.

"Sorry to startle you," said the smart middle-aged man, "dreaming up another invention no doubt."

A smile ran across the young woman's face as she recognized the officer as a close friend of her parents; "Mister Wilson!"

The man held out his hand for a handshake and he returned the smile as they shared the greeting; "You finally made it, we couldn't wait for you to come of age and begin this journey, we know you'll be a great asset to the Alliance."

"Thank you," blushed Rebecca, "I'll try my best."

"I must say though, requesting field work on top of research and development seems a dash unorthodox."

"I wanted to trail my programs and tools out in the field, who better to test them under genuine conditions than myself," said Rebecca nervously pushing up her glasses.

"Well," said Wilson dismissing his concerns, "you're not a little girl any more, and your results so far have been exceptional. I always knew you'd want to push yourself even more than what your parents anticipated."

Rebecca looked around; "Are they here?"

Wilson couldn't hide his frown; "I'm sorry my dear, they of course send their congratulations."

"Of… of course," replied Rebecca giving her best false smile.

"Rebecca…" started Wilson.

There were sudden loud cheers from three of the trainees behind the couple that instantly attracted their attention.  
They were stood around Scott who took a bow after performing some missed, but surely entertaining, endeavour.

Wilson's face darkened as he leaned towards Rebecca to quietly talk to her; "The only advice I would give to a girl as bright as you, is to not be influenced by the likes of Scott Lawton. His father was the worst kind of scum kicked out of the navy, and as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Try your best to avoid him."

Rebecca hummed a low confirmation and nodded, but she made a very conscious decision to decide such a thing for herself after getting to know him a little more.

###

Rebecca glanced to the side of Scott's face as they walked back towards Flux.  
She found that she couldn't stop herself from smiling.


End file.
